U.S. Captures Venezuelan President

On Saturday, January 3, the United States military launched an operation on Caracas, Venezuela and captured Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president. “NPR” reported that the attack took place around two in the morning local time.

In addition to human rights violations, Maduro has faced accusations of illegal activity for years. According to “BBC,” prosecutors claim that Maduro, his wife Cilia Flores and their son Nicolas have all been involved in a drug trafficking scheme that stretches back to 1999. Additionally, prosecutors argue that Maduro both helped drug cartels in a plan to bring cocaine into America and worked with cartels that the U.S. named as terrorist groups. Maduro denied the allegations and claimed that such statements were part of a scheme for other countries to obtain Venezuela’s valuable natural resources.

Maduro has since been taken into U.S. custody in New York, where he awaits trial (“BBC”). Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a post on “X” that Maduro and Flores will “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”

The United States has long been interested in Venezuela’s large oil reserves. Following Maduro's capture, President Trump announced that the U.S. would obtain 30-50 million barrels of oil from Venezuela. “CNN” reported that Trump stated that Venezuela stole oil from the United States.

While Maduro is held by the United States government, the Supreme Court of Venezuela swore in former vice president Delcy Rodriguez to serve as interim president (“NPR”). Rodriguez stated that she will continue to support Maduro and believes that he is still Venezuela’s president, although she holds the official title. However, according to Trump, the U.S. is “going to run the country [Venezuela] right. It's going to be run very judiciously, very fairly” (“NPR”).

“NBC” reported that the U.S was actively attacking ships in the Pacific and Caribbean waters in December in an attempt to target suspected “narco-terrorists.” Regarding these at- tacks, Trump stated, “If he [Maudro] plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s

ever able to play tough.”

The most recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Machado, is a leader of the Venezuelan opposition movement. In an interview with “Fox News,” Machado described an executive order, supposedly signed by Maduro the day he was captured that would punish Venezuelans who supported Trump. Machado claimed that Venezuelan journalists have also been captured for this reason.

“Time” detailed that the Trump Administration maintains it classified the attack on Venezuela through law enforcement, a characterization that would not need to be cleared by Congress. The Senate, however, voted to advance the War Powers Resolution, which would require Trump to have any future military operations against Venezuela approved by Congress, but then it did not pass.

Advanced Topics in U.S. Government teacher Dr. Louisa Nill dedicated a day of class to discuss the capture of Maduro. She stated, “Students in [Advanced Topics in U.S. Government] looked at the facts of what happened that weekend and then looked at a variety of perspectives, both domestic and global. We looked at data about what Republicans and Democrats were saying, and we looked at data suggesting that about a third of Americans supported Trump’s decision.” She also noted that the class studied “the reactions of the Venezuelan government and the Venezuelan citizenry and the response from the United Nations.”

Government student Audrey O’Beirne ‘26 reflected on her experience learning about Venezuela both inside and outside the classroom and stated, “In my opinion, the Trump administration’s motive for capturing Maduro was primarily centered on oil for financial gain rather than actually freeing the Venezuelan people from his dictatorship. If the Trump administration’s goal were to truly free the Venezuelan people from a dictatorship, they would have helped place the legitimate winner of the Venezuelan election" in power.